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WORK  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  ONE   HUNDRED 
ON  NATIONAL  HEALTH 


BY 

WM.  JAY  SCHIEFFELIN,  Ph.D. 

Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  Committee  of  One  Hundred  on  National  Health, 

New  York 


Publication  No.  628 

American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science 

Reprinted  from  The  Annals,  March,  191 1 


Price,  m  cents 


WORK  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  ONE  HUNDRED  ON 
NATIONAL  HEALTH 


By  Wm.  Jay  Schieffelin,  Ph.D.j 
Qiairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred 

on  National  Health. 


Professor  J.  P.  Norton,  of  Yale,  in  a  paper  read  in  June,  1906, 
before  the  Economic  Section  of  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science,  showed  that  the  country  is  suffering  great 
economic  losses  from  preventable  sickness  and  premature  deaths. 
He  advocated  the  creation  of  a  National  Department  of  Health, 
which  should  spread  throughout  the  country  a  knowledge  of 
effective  ways  of  stamping  out  disease,  as  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture has  done  in  the  case  of  cattle.  As  a  result  of  this  paper, 
a  committee  of  one  hundred  on  national  health  was  appointed  to 
study  its  subject,  and  to  put  into  effect  the  best  methods  for  securing 
its  object.  The  committee  elected  Professor  Irving  Fisher,  of  Yale, 
president.  It  was  later  voted  by  the  association  that  the  com- 
mittee,^ instead  of  merely  representing  its  economic  section,  should 

^The  present  make-up  of  the  Committee  Is  as  follows : 

President — Professor   Irving  Fisher. 

Vice-Presidents — Ex-President  James  B.  Angell,  Ann  Arbor ;  Ex-President 
Charles  W.  Eliot,  Cambridge ;  Rev.  Lyman  Abbott,  New  York ;  Miss  Jane  Addams, 
Chicago ;  Mr.  Felix  Adler,  New  York ;  Hon.  Joseph  H.  Choate,  New  York ;  Arch- 
bishop Ireland,  St.  Paul ;  Hon.  Ben  B.  Lindsey,  Denver  ;  Mr.  John  Mitchell,  New 
York;  Dr.  William  H.  Welch,  Baltimore. 

Executive  Officers- — Chairman  Executive  Committee,  Wm.  .Jay  Schieffelin, 
Ph.D.  ;  Secretary,  Edward  T.  Devine,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.  ;  Treasurer,  Title  Guarantee  and 
Trust  Company,   176  Broadway,   New  York  City. 

Committee  of  One  Hundred — Dr.  A.  C.  Abbott,  Philadelphia,  Pa. ;  Rev.  Lyman 
Abbott,  New  York  City ;  Samuel  Hopkins  Adams,  New  York  City ;  Mlas  Jane 
Addams,  Chicago,  111.  ;  Felix  Adler,  New  York  City  ;  William  H.  Allen,  Ph.D.,  New 
York  City  ;  Ex-Presldent  .Tames  B.  Angell,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.  ;  Dr.  Hermann  Biggs, 
New  York  City  ;  Dr.  Frank  BHlings,  Chicago,  111.  ;  Miss  Mabel  T.  Boardman,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  ;  Edward  Bok,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  ;  Mrs.  Ballington  Booth,  Montclalr, 
N.  J.  ;  C.  Loring  Brace,  New  York  City  ;  Bishop  C.  H.  Brent,  Manila,  P.  I.  ;  Dr. 
Joseph  D.  Bryant,  Nfw  York  City ;  Luther  Burbank,  Santa  Rosa,  Cal. ;  Andrew 
Carnegie,  New  York  City  ;  Prof.  James  McKeen  Cattell,  New  York  City  ;  Prof.  R.  H. 
Chittenden,  New  Haven,  Conn. ;  Hon.  Joseph  H.  Choate,  New  York  City ;  Dr. 
Thomas  D.  Coleman,  Augusta,  Ga.  ;  Prof.  John  R.  Commons,  Madison,  Wis.  ;  Dr. 
Thomas  Darlington,  New  York  City  :  Edward  T.  Devine,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  New  York 
City ;  Mrs.  INTelvil  Dewey.  Lake  Placid.  N.  Y.  ;  Dr.  A.  H.  Doty,  New  York  City ; 
Thomas   A.    Edison,    Orange,    N.    J. ;    Ex-President,    Charles    W.    Elliot,    Cambridge. 

C321) 


78  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

represent  the  whole  association,  and  that  the  scope  of  its  work 
should  not  be  confined  to  advocating  a  National  Department  of 
Health,  but  should  include  the  prosecution  of  all  suitable  work  for 
securing  improved  national  health. 

The  committee  adopted  the  policy  of  not  attempting  much  direct 
work  for  improving  health  conditions,  but  rather  of  inducing  other 
agencies,  already  existing  and  equipped,  to  do  the  work.  It  has 
aimed  especially  to  enlist  the  services  of  three  great  agencies,  the 
press,  the  insurance  companies,  and  the  government. 

At  the  outset  the  committee  was  confronted  with  the  fact  that 
very  little  information  exists  concerning  the  health  of  the  nation 
as  a  whole.  Actual  facts  as  to  deaths  are  available  in  only  half 
of  the  population.  Of  the  remainder  we  do  not  even  know  how 
many  deaths  occur.  Before  the  nation  can  intelligently  do  its  part 
of  the  work  of  disease  prevention,  the  national  aspect  of  diseases, 

Mass.  ;  Rev.  W.  G.  Eliot,  Jr.,  Portland,  Ore.  ;  Dr.  Livingston  Parrand,  New  York 
City  ;  Hon.  Cliarles  J.  Fauliiner,  Washington,  D.  C.  ;  Dr.  Henry  B.  Favill,  Chicago, 
111.  ;  Dr.  George  J.  Fisher,  New  York  City  ;  Prof.  Irving  Fisher,  New  Haven,  Conn. ; 
Horace  Fletcher,  New  Yor^  City  ;  Austen  G.  Fox,  New  York  City  ;  Lee  K.  Frankel. 
Ph.D.,  New  York  City  ;  Dr.  John  S.  Fulton,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  President  H.  A. 
Garfield,  Williamstown,  Mass.  ;  William  R.  George,  Freeville,  N.  Y.  ;  Prof.  Franklin 
H.  Giddings,  New  York  City  ;  B.  R.  L.  Gould,  New  York  City  ;  Rev.  Percy  S.  Grant, 
New  York  City ;  Dr.  Luther  H.  Gulick,  New  York  City ;  President  A.  T.  Hadley, 
New  Haven,  Conn.  ;  Norman  Hapgood,  New  York  City  ;  Miss  Hazard,  Peace  Dale, 
R.  I. ;  Prof.  C.  R.  Henderson,  Chicago,  111.  ;  Mrs.  John  B.  Henderson,  Washington, 
D.  C. ;  Calvin  W.  Hendrick,  Baltimore,  Md.  ;  Byron  W.  Holt,  New  York  City; 
Prof.  L.  Emmett  Holt,  New  York  City ;  Dr.  J.  N.  Hurty,  Indianapolis,  Ind. ;  Rt 
Rev.  John  Ireland,  St.  Paul,  Minn.  ;  Prof.  M.  B.  Jaffa,  Berkeley,  Cal.  ;  Prof. 
Jeremiah  W.  Jenks,  Ithaca,  N.  Y.  ;  Dr.  P.  M.  Jones,  San  Francisco,  Cal.  ;  President 
David  Starr  Jordan,  Stanford  University,  California ;  Prof.  Edwin  O.  Jordan, 
Chicago,  111.  ;  Arthur  P.  Kellogg,  New  York  City  ;  Dr.  J.  II.  Kellogg,  Battle  Creek, 
Mich.  ;  Dr.  S.  A.  Knopf,  New  York  City  ;  Dr.  George  M.  Kober,  Washington,  D.  C. ; 
Dr.  George  F.  Kunz,  New  York  City ;  Prof.  James  Law,  Ithaca,  N.  Y.  ;  Samuel 
McCune  Lindsay,  New  York  City ;  Hon.  Ben  B.  Liudsey,  Denver,  Col.  ;  Dr. 
Jaques  Loeh,  Berkeley,  Cal.  ;  Hon.  John  D.  Long,  Boston,  Mass. ;  S.  S.  McClure, 
New  York  City ;  Dr.  J.  N.  McCormack,  Bowling  Green,  Ky.  ;  Hiram  J.  Messenger, 
Hartford,  Conn.  ;  John  Mitchell,  New  York  City ;  Hugh  Moore,  New  York  City ; 
Dr.  Prince  A.  Morrow,  Now  York  City  ;  Dr.  Richard  C.  Newton,  Montclair,  N.  J  ; 
Prof.  M.  V.  O'Shea,  Madison,  Wis.;  Walter  H.  Page,  Garden  City,  L.  I.;  Henry 
Plnpps,  New  York  City  ;  Dr.  C.  O.  Probst,  Columbus,  Ohio  :  Dr.  Charles  A.  L.  Reed, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio ;  Mrs.  Ellen  H.  Richards,  Boston,  Mass.  ;  Dr.  R.  A.  Sargent, 
Cambridge,  Mass.  ;  William  Jay  Schieffelin,  Ph.D.,  New  York  City  ;  Prof.  Henry 
R.  Seager,  New  York  City ;  ITon.  George  Shiras,  III,  Washington,  D.  C.  ;  Dr. 
George  H.  Simmons,  Chicago,  111.  ;  President  William  F.  Slocum,  Colorado  Springs, 
Col.  ;  Dr.  Charles  D.  Smith,  Portland,  Me.  ;  Dr.  Z.  T.  Sowers,  Washington,  D.  C. ; 
James  Snrunt,  Wiln^ington,  N.  C.  ;  Melville  E.  Stone,  New  York  City ;  Nathan 
Straus,  New  York  City  ;  .T.  E.  Sullivan,  Now  York  City  ;  ;  William  H.  Tolman,  New 
York  City;  Dr.  Henry  P.  Walcott.  Boston,  Mass.;  Dr.  WilHam  H.  Welch,  Balti- 
more, Md. ;  Prof.  F.  F.  Wesbrook.  Minneapolis,  Minn.  ;  Talcott  Williams,  Philadel- 
phia,  Pa. ;   President,    Robert   S.    Woodward,    Washington,   D.    C. 

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IVork  of  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred  79 

as  they  spread  over  state  bovindaries,  must  be  known.  The  lack 
of  such  knowledge  has  been  an  added  incentive  to  the  Committee 
of  One  Hundred  to  ask  for  a  health  department  to  gather  national 
health  information.  Referring  to  a  map  which  the  government 
made  at  a  great  expense  to  show  where  the  best  beet  crops  might, 
be  expected,  Dr.  Wiley,  chief  of  the  bureau  of  chemistry,  has 
commented  on  the  dearth  of  national  maps  on  more  vital  subjects. 
He  says : 

Our  government  needs  maps  of  vital  conditions  throughout  the  country. 
We  would  have  a  map  of  the  United  States  showing  where  the  cancer  belt  is, 
where  the  greatest  tuberculosis  area  is,  where  the  typhoid  area  lies,  what  is 
the  area  containing  men  and  women  of  the  finest  physiques.  Such  information 
would  be  of  illimitable  value  to  the  nation  in  any  intelligent  attempt  at  the 
reduction  of  disease,  and  would  save  millions  of  dollars  to  the  nation  now  lost 
by  unnecessary  sickness  and  unnecessary  premature  death. 

Meanwhile  the  committee  has  availed  itself  of  such  material 
as  exists  on  national  health  conditions,  and  has  endeavored  to  place 
this  material  in  the  hands  of  as  many  people  as  possible.  The 
object  of  the  committee  was  two-fold:  First,  to  give  ground  for 
a  popular  demand  for  a  National  Health  Department;  second,  to 
set  the  people  thinking  on  health  subjects.  As  Dr.  Wiley  further 
says: 

If  we  have  never  had  a  Department  of  Health,  Congress  is  not  at  fault ; 
it  is  the  fault  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  They  are  perfectly  apathetic 
about  their  own  health.  They  go  about  their  work  day  after  day,  and  then 
when  a  break  in  health  comes,  they  submit  to  all  its  consequences  with  a  kind 
of  feeling  that  the  disaster  is  inevitable. 

An  American  Health  League  was  started  by  the  committee. 
The  membership  in  the  league  soon  numbered  25,000.  To  these 
people  and  to  the  press  literature  was  sent  on  the  prevention  of 
sickness  and  the  need  of  national  action.  In  all  the  committee  has 
issued  over  two-score  publications,  among  them  "National  Vitality," 
the  report  by  Professor  Irving  Fisher,  president  of  the  Committee 
of  One  Hundred,  as  a  member  of  President  Roosevelt's  Conserva- 
tion Commission.  This  report,  which  was  commended  by  eminent 
scientists,  showed  that  out  of  the  entire  population  1,500,000  die 
annually,  and  of  this  number  nearly  half  (over  620,000)  die  many 
years  before  they  should ;  that  proper  precautions  would  save  those 

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8o  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

years  of  life.  It  also  showed  that  there  are  constantly  3,000,000 
sickbeds  in  the  country,  and  that  if  hygienic  knowledge  now  avail- 
able were  used,  at  least  one-half  of  these  people  might  be  among 
the  well,  instead  of  among  the  sick.  But  besides  the  knowledge 
which  already  exists  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  diseases.  Professor 
Fisher  brings  out  in  his  report  that  much  more  knowledge  is  needed 
to  explain  the  causes  of  many  diseases.  For  obtaining  such  informa- 
tion and  for  spreading  it  among  the  people,  a  National  Health 
Department  would  be  effective. 

This  conservation  report  on  "National  Vitality,"  was  printed 
in  several  large  editions  by  the  United  States  Senate,  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  Senator  Robert  L.  Owen,  who  has  actively  championed 
the  National  Department  of  Health  movement.  Copies  of  the 
report  were  spread  throughout  the  country,  and  have  furnished  a 
large  part  of  the  committee's  educational  campaign. 

A  magazine  called  "American  Health,"  was  published  by  the 
committee  in  the  beginning  of  its  work.  After  a  few  issues  of  this 
magazine,  however,  the  committee  succeeded  in  enlisting  the  direct 
co-operation  of  "McClure's  Magazine,"  "World's  Work,"  "The 
Survey,"  "The  Dietetic  and  Hygienic  Gazette,"  and  "Good  Health." 
When  this  was  accomplished,  the  committee's  own  magazine  was 
discontinued.  Many  other  magazines  have  directly  co-operated  in 
the  committee's  work. 

Since  the  results  for  which  the  committee  is  working  are  a 
matter  of  vital  consequence  to  life  insurance  companies  from  a 
business  standpoint,  it  was  apparent  to  the  committee  from  the 
beginning  that  such  companies  could  be  a  powerful  aid  in  accom- 
plishing those  results.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Association  of  Life 
Insurance  Presidents,  in  February,  1909,  Professor  Irving  Fisher 
read  a  paper  on  "The  Economic  Aspect  of  Lengthening  Human 
Life."  A  "Human  Life  Extension  Committee"  was  then  appointed. 
Since  this  meeting,  the  life  insurance  companies  have  entered  more 
actively  into  the  health  campaign.  Health  educational  departments 
have  been  established  in  many  of  the  companies,  medical  examina- 
tions have  been  increased,  sanatoria  have  been  built,  and  definite 
steps  have  been  taken  to  aid  in  obtaining  national  action  in  behalf 
of  health.  The  life  insurance  companies,  therefore,  are  to-day 
among  the  most  powerful  agencies  for  the  betterment  of  health  in 
this  country.     In  a  recent  paper  on  the  subject,  Professor  Fisher 

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Work  of  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred  8i 

reviewed  the  progress  which  the  insurance  companies  have  made 
in  health  work.     He  said: 

At  present  the  movement  has  only  j  ust  begun ;  although  it  has,  1  believe, 
gone  far  enough  to  demonstrate  its  wisdom.  The  Metropolitan  has  established 
a  consumptive  sanatorium  in  the  face  of  inuch  opposition  and  in  spite  of 
an  adverse  decision  at  first  by  the  Insurance  Commissioners  of  Nev(f  York 
State  as  to  their  right  to  do  so;  it  has  engaged  visiting  nurses  to  co-operate 
with  visiting  nurses'  associations  in  certain  cities  to  care  for  its  bed-ridden 
policyholders;  it  has  established  a  health  magazine  to  distribute  health  lit- 
erature among  its  policyholders — which  magazine  is  made  available  to  15,- 
000,000  readers,  or  one-sixth  of  the  population  in  the  United  States;  and 
it  has  endorsed  in  several  v;ays  and  on  several  occasions  the  movement 
for  a  National  Department  of  Health. 

The  Provident  Life  Assurance  Company  has  established  a  health  bureau 
which  performs  two  functions,  one  of  issuing  bulletins  of  health  information 
among  its  policyholders,  the  other,  of  granting  to  those  who  choose,  free 
medical  examinations.  At  first  these  free  examinations  were  to  occur  every 
two  years,  but  the  results  were  immediately  found  to  be  so  satisfactory  in 
holding  off  the  Grim  Reaper,  who  was  creeping  upon  his  victims  unawares, 
that  the  interval  for  periodical  examinations  has  been  reduced  to  one  year. 

The  New  York  Life  Insurance  Company  has  taken  a  hand  in  the  effort 
to  improve  and  purify  the  milk  supply  of  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Robert  L.  Cox,  counsel  for  the  Association  of  Life  Insurance  Presi- 
dents, states  that  "practically  all  of  the  companies  represented  in  the  Associa- 
tion of  Life  Insurance  Presidents  are  giving  their  moral  support  to  the  move- 
ment for  the  prolongation  of  human  life.  In  addition,  many  of  them  are  doing 
practical  educative  work.  Measured  by  number  of  policies  in  force,  the 
association  companies  cover  seventy-eight  per  cent  of  the  field  of  American 
companies,  having  21,700,000  policies  out  of  a  total  of  about  28,000,000.  The 
association  companies  engaging  in  individual  work  along  health  betterment 
lines  have  seventy-three  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  policies  in  force,  or 
20,500,000. 

There  is  another  group  of  companies  in  the  association  which  goes 
beyond  the  body  of  policyholders  in  its  health  promotion  activities.  They 
advise  impaired  applicants  for  insurance  as  to  their  physical  condition  and 
make  suggestions  to  aid  them.  There  are  four  companies  in  this  group. 
Two  of  them,  in  the  East,  have  a  total  of  86,000  policies.  Another  is  a 
flourishing  Middle  West  company  that  has  about  150,000  policies.  The  fourth 
is  a  young  and  conservative  Southern  company  with  7,200  policies. 

One  of  the  Connecticut  companies  has  published  suggestions  as  to  health 
reform  in  its  magazines  to  agents.  Two  other  companies — one  of  Massachu- 
setts and  the  other  of  California — are  considering  active  work  in  the  future. 

The  fraternal  societies  have  entered  the  camoaign.  Their  journal,  the 
"Western  Review"  now  has  a  department  especially  devoted  to  the  public 
health.     Fraternal  insurance  companies  have  also  in  several  instances  estab- 

C325) 


82  TJie  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

lished  sanatoria,  and  have  attempted  in  other  ways  to  lengthen  lives  and 
decrease  death  claims. 

The  accident  companies  have,  I  understand,  for  some  time,  aided  in  getting 
state  laws  passed  to  prevent  accidents  to  life  and  limb. 

Finally,  health  insurance,  one  of  the  youngest  forms  of  insurance,  has 
made  a  beginning  in  the  field  of  prevention.  The  Loyal  Protective  Insurance 
Company  has,  within  the  last  few  months,  established  a  health  bureau  to  issue 
bulletins  and  conduct  a  sort  of  correspondence  school  of  health  information. 
Considering  the  fact  that  few,  if  any,  of  the  existing  insurance  companies  have 
been  engaged  in  health  insurance  for  more  than  fourteen  years,  their  present 
entrance  into  the  field  of  prevention  is  unusually  prompt.  Personally  I 
believe  that  in  health  and  accident  insurance — and  especially  in  health  insur- 
ance— there  are  gigantic  possibilities  of  profit.  I  use  the  term  profit  rather 
than  philanthropy  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  insurance  companies  as  such 
have  no  business  to  undertake  philanthropic  work  except  when  it  is  profitable. 
In  the  end  the  money  gains  made  by  the  insurance  companies  by  reducing 
mortality  and  invalidity  will  be  shared  by  the  public  in  reduced  premiums. 

In  the  matter  of  enlisting  government  aid,  the  committee  has 
been  active  in  several  states.  It  has  aided  health  legislation,  notably 
the  law  in  Connecticut  for  the  "Sterilization  of  Degenerates." 

The  committee  has  also  laid  the  foundations  for  national  health 
legislation.  In  the  beginning  of  its  work,  ex-President  Cleveland 
sent  a  letter  of  endorsement.  Then  came  the  endorsements  of 
Presidents  Roosevelt  and  Taft,  and  of  j\Ir.  Bryan.  Both  political 
parties  put  national  planks  in  their  platforms.  IMany  noted  men 
endorsed  the  movement  and  worked  in  its  behalf.  The  governors 
of  most  of  the  states  expressed  themselves  as  favoring  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  National  Health  Bureau  or  Department.  National 
societies  favored  the  movement,  and  passed  resolutions  endorsing 
it.  The  Grange  endorsed  it.  The  United  Mine  Workers  and  other 
labor  organizations  endorsed  it.  Educational  institutions,  boards 
of  health,  civic  associations,  women's  clubs — all  heartily  endorsed 
the  committee's  work.  Boards  of  trade  throughout  the  country 
took  up  the  movement,  recognizing  that  health  plays  an  important^ 
part  in  the  prosperity  of  a  community.  The  countrv  can  now  be 
said,  therefore,  to  be  awake  to  the  need  of  national  action  for  the 
suppression  of  disease. 

The  Honorable  George  Shiras,  III,  a  member  of  the  committee, 
made  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  question  of  constitutionality  of  a 
National  Health  Department,  and  reported  favorably  on  it. 

The   first   national   bills   of   importance   that    came    under   the 

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Work  of  the  Coinuiittec  of  One  Hundred  83 

consideration  of  cne  committee  were  Senate  bills  6101  and  6102 
and  their  equivalents  in  the  House.  These  bills  aimed  to  increase 
the  salaries  of  officers  in  the  Public  Health  and  Marine  Hospital 
Service,  and  to  enlarge  the  scope  of  their  work.  The  merits  of  the 
bills  were  given  thorough  investigation  by  the  executive  and  the 
legislative  sub-committees  of  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred. 
After  due  deliberation,  the  committee  decided  to  withhold  approval 
(except  as  to  the  increase  in  salaries),  and  submitted  to  the  Presi- 
dent its  own  plan  for  increasing  the  efficiency  of  the  federal  health 
service.  Instead  of  enlarging  the  scope  of  the  present  Public  Health 
and  Marine  Hospital  Service,  which  might  result  in  duplication  of 
work  already  being  done  in  other  bureaus  of  the  government,  the 
committee  recommended  that  all  the  federal  health  agencies  be 
concentrated  into  one  department,  instead  of  being  scattered,  as  they 
are  now,  in  various  departments. 

The  President  then  appointed  a  "Commission  on  the  Organi- 
zation of  the  Scientific  Work  of  the  Government."  This  commis- 
sion consisted  of  Charles  Walcott,  chairman  (director  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institute),  James  R.  Garfield,  W.  L.  Capps,  William  Crozier 
and  Gifford  Pinchot.  They  confirmed  the  recommendations  of  the 
committee,  stating  that  "there  exists  a  lack  of  co-ordination  and 
effectiveness  [among  the  bureaus  doing  public  health  work]  that  can 
only  be  overcome  by  administrative  supervision  in  one  department." 

In  the  fall  of  1909  President  Taft  took  up  the  subject  of 
co-ordinating  the  existing  federal  health  agencies,  after  having 
repeatedly  favored  the  idea  in  his  public  utterances.  He  had  various 
plans  suggested  for  the  improvement  of  the  federal  health  service. 
These  were  submitted  to  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred,  and  expert 
opinions  were  obtained  from  outside  sources.  None  of  these  plans, 
however,  satisfied  the  President  or  the  committee. 

New  health  bills  were  introduced  in  Congress,  until,  during  the 
session  of  1910,  there  were  no  less  than  six  public  health  bills  to 
which  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred  gave  consideration.  One 
bill,  introduced  by  Congressman  Simons,  aimed  "to  further  protect 
the  public  health,"  imposing  additional  duties  on  the  Public  Health 
and  Marine  Hospital  Service.  Another  bill,  introduced  by  him, 
aimed  to  "establish  a  Department  of  Public  Health,"  this  depart- 
ment to  be  supervised  by  a  director-general  of  public  health  appointed 
by  the  President,  all  divisions  of  the  government  work  relating  to 

(327) 


84  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

public  health,  except  those  in  the  War  and  Navy  departments,  to 
be  combined  in  one  department.  Congressman  Hanna  introduced 
another  bill  "to  establish  a  Department  of  Public  Health."  This 
provided  for  a  secretary  of  health,  who  should  have  a  seat  in  the 
Cabinet.  Congressman  Mann  introduced  the  bill  "providing  for 
a  public  health  service."  This  was  the  plan  to  change  the  name 
of  the  Public  Health  and  Marine  Hospital  Service  and  to  enlarge 
its  scope.  He  also  introduced  another  bill  to  establish  a  bureau 
of  health  within  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor  "to  per- 
form the  functions  now  exercised  by  the  Public  Health  and  Marine 
Hospital  Service  and  the  division  of  foods  and  drugs  of  the  bureau 
of  chemistry."  Senator  Owen  introduced  a  bill  to  establish  a  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Health  under  the  head  of  a  secretary  who  should 
be  a  member  of  the  President's  Cabinet.  After  giving  due  con- 
sideration to  all  of  the  bills,  and  to  the  subject  of  the  advisability 
of  drafting  a  bill  of  its  own,  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred 
decided  to  endorse  the  principle  of  the  Owen  bill,  although  not  com- 
mitting itself  to  its  details. 

The  national  health  movement  has  been  powerfully  supported 
by  many  members  of  the  House  and  the  Senate.  Upon  taking  a  poll 
of  Congress,  the  committee  found  that  there  exists  predominating 
sentiment  in  favor  of  increasing  the  efficiency  of  the  federal  work 
concerned  with  conserving  the  human-life  assets  of  the  country. 

One  problem  before  the  committee  was  the  question  of  estab- 
lishing a  Department  of  Health  instead  of  a  bureau.  The  original 
aim  of  the  committee  was  a  department,  but  President  Roosevelt 
was  unwilling  to  enlarge  the  Cabinet  by  adding  a  Secretary  of 
Health.  In  order  to  obtain  the  President's  help,  the  committee 
withdrew  its  advocacy  of  a  department,  and  asked  for  only  a  new 
bureau  of  health,  to  be  placed  wathin  one  of  the  present  departments. 
This  change  was  adopted,  not  because  anything  less  than  a  depart- 
ment is  needed  to  carry  on  properly  the  work  of  conserving  the 
lives  of  91,000,000  people,  but  as  a  step  in  the  right  direction. 

W^en  President  Taft  came  into  office,  it  was  found  that  he 
was  less  opposed  to  enlarging  the  Cabinet.  Upon  the  appearance 
of  the  Owen  bill  for  a  Department  of  Health,  the  committee  decided 
to  endorse  the  principle  of  the  bill.  In  regard  to  this  question  of 
a  department  versus  a  bureau,  Senator  Owen  says: 

(328) 


Work  of  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred  85 

We  have  had  bureaus  affecting  the  public  health  for  one  hundred  years. 
They  are  scattered  in  eight  departments.  They  have  been  disconnected  and 
without  co-ordination.  They  have  even  been  jealous  of  each  other,  the  one 
nullifying  and  hampering  the  work  of  another.  They  have  been  without  a 
responsible  head  because  of  this  subdivision  and  because  the  chief  of  the  most 
important  of  these  bureaus,  the  Surgeon-General  of  the  Public  Health  and 
Marine  Hospital  Service,  can  not  express  an  opinion  or  give  information 
until  he  has  consulted  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury — a  system  that  is  abso- 
lutely ridiculous. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  not  selected  as  a  Cabinet  officer 
because  of  his  knowledge  of  the  public  health,  but  because  he  was  an  expert 
on  finance.  At  present  our  Cabinet  expert  on  finance  directs  government 
activities  in  controlling  bubonic  plague,  and  the  board  of  trade  and  a  few 
commerciahzed  physicians  of  San  Francisco  would  be  more  important  in  his 
eyes  in  all  human  probability  than  the  chief  of  one  of  his  subordinate  bureaus ; 
at  all  events  this  was  true  as  to  "a  previous  Secretary. 

Senator  Owen  cites  an  instance  when  local  commercial  interests 
went  over  the  head  of  the  chief  of  a  health  bureau,  as  a  consequence 
of  which  public  health  had  to  suffer. 

Upon  the  appearance  of  Senator  Owen's  bill,  and  after  the 
stirring  speech  which  he  made  on  this  subject  in  the  Senate,  a 
new  faction  appeared.  This  sprang  up  suddenly,  apparently  with 
plenty,  of  money  at  its  command,  and  put  in  the  newspapers  paid 
advertisements,  which  contained  misleading  statements  designed 
to  convince  readers  that  the  Owen  bill  proposed  to  establish  a 
department  of  healing,  that  only  doctors  of  one  school  of  medicine 
would  be  allowed  to  practice,  and  that  the  "medical  freedom"  of 
those  of  all  other  schools  would  be  restricted.  As  there  is  no  part 
in  the  plan  for  a  National  Department  of  Health,  which  seems  to 
justify  such  a  perverted  view  of  the  national  health  movement,  the 
Committee  of  One  Hundred  has  endeavored  to  look  into  the  source 
of  the  opposition.  The  committee  has  found  that  it  is  aimed  at 
the  American  Medical  Association,  which  happens  to  be  one  of  the 
many  endorsers  of  the  Department  of  Health  idea.  The  American 
Medical  Association  has  maintained  a  department  for  investigating 
the  ingredients  of  certain  patent  medicines,  making  public  the  facts 
regarding  the  misrepresentations  made  in  their  behalf  and  the  harm- 
ful results  from  using  those  that  contained  injurious  drugs.  Such 
a  proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  American  Medical  Association  has 
not  only  antagonized  the  patent  medicine  interests,  but  has  antago- 
nized those  doctors  who  have  been  in  the  habit  of  prescribing  such 

(329) 


86  The  Annals  of  the  American  Academy 

medicines  for  their  patients.  The  cry  of  these  people  for  "medical 
freedom"  has  been  caught  up  by  a  number  of  unsuspecting  people, 
however.  Some  of  the  Christian  Scientists,  for  instance,  are  said 
to  be  enlisted.  Ignoring  the  fact  that  the  real  issue  is  whether  or 
not  the  government  shall  take  steps  to  prevent  the  needless  sick- 
ness from  which  this  country  is  now  suffering,  these  people  appar- 
ently accept  the  present  amount  of  sickness  as  inevitable,  and  center 
their  attention  on  who  shall  get  the  business  of  treating  it.  Presi- 
dent Taft  referred  to  these  misrepresentations  in  his  message  to 
Congress  in  December,  1910.    He  said: 

In  m}'  message  of  last  year  I  recommended  the  creation  of  a  bureau  of 
health,  in  which  should  be  embraced  all  those  government  agencies  outside 
of  the  War  and  Navy  departments  which  are  now  directed  toward  the  pre- 
servation of  public  health  or  exercise  functions  germane  to  that  subject. 
I  renew  this  recommendation.  I  greatly  regret  that  the  agitation  in  favor  of 
this  bureau  has  aroused  a  counter  agitation  against  its  creation,  on  the  ground 
that  the  establishment  of  such  a  bureau  is  to  be  in  the  interest  of  a  particular 
school  of  medicine.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  assumption  is  wholly  unwar- 
ranted, and  that  those  responsible  for  the  government  can  be  trusted  to 
secure  in  the  personnel  of  the  bureau  the  appointment  of  representatives  of 
all  recognized  schools  of  medicine,  and  in  the  management  of  the  bureau 
entire  freedom  from  narrow  prejudice  in  this  regard. 

Meanwhile  the  country  is  interested  in  the  facts  regarding 
achievements  in  the  prevention  of  sickness  that  have  been  made  in 
different  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  in  Panama  and  the  depen- 
dencies, by  the  adoption  of  sanitary  measures. 

Congressman  Mann  has  now  introduced  in  the  House  a  bill 
to  change  the  name  of  the  Public  Health  and  Marine  Hospital 
Service  to  the  Public  Health  Service,  and  to  enlarge  its  scope.  The 
committee  has  decided  to  oppose  this  bill,  as  being  an  avoidance  of 
the  demand  for  a  consolidation  of  the  health  activities  of  the  gov- 
ernment. The  committee  is  continuing  its  endeavors  to  unite  /he 
powers  of  the  nation  against  the  enemies  of  health,  confident  ;jf 
the  support  of  all  who  are  guided  by  reason  and  humanity. 


(330) 


SPECIAL  VOLUMES 


The  United  States  as  a  World  Power 
The  United  States  and  Latin-America 
Political  and  Social  Progress  in  Latin-America 
The  Government  in  its  Relation  to  Industry 
American  Colonial  Policy  and  Administration 
Foreign  Policy  of  the  United  States — Political 

and  Commercial 
Federal  Regulation  of  Corporations 
Federal  Regulation  of  Industry 
Administration  of  Justice  in  the  United  States 
Corporations  and  Public  "Welfare 
Tariff  Problems — ^American  and  British 
Tariffs,  Reciprocity  and  Foreign  Trade 
Tariff  Revision 

Railway  and  Traffic  Problems 
Electric  Railway  Transportation 
Race  Improvement  in  the  United  States 
The  Public  Health  Movement 
Social  Legislation  and  Activity 
Problems  in  Charities  and  Corrections 
Philanthropy  and  Penology 
Woman's  Work  and  Organizations 
Social  Work  of  the  Church 
Political    Problems 

Municipal  Ownership  and  Municipal  Fran- 
chises 


Municipal  Problems,  Vols.  I  and  11 

Control  of  Municipal  Public  Service  Corpo- 
rations 

City  Life  and  Progress 

Insurance 

Insurance  and  Commercial  Organization 

Business  Management,  Vols.  I  and  11 

Business  Professions 

American  Business  Conditions 

Industrial  Education 

Bonds  as  Investment  Securities 

Stocks  and  the  Stock  Market 

Lessons  of  the  Financial  Crisis 

Banking  Problems 

Labor  Problems,  Vols.  I  and  n 

The  Improvement  of  Labor  Conditions  in  the 
United  States 

Labor  and  Wages 

The  Settlement  of  Labor  Disputes 

Risks  in  Modem  Industry 

American  Waterways 

RegtJation  of  the  Liquor  Traffic 

Conservation  of  Natural  Resources 

Chinese  and  Japanese  in  America 

The  New  South 

Public  Recreation  Facilities 


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American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science 
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THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  POLITICAL 
AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE 

Origin  and  Purpose.  The  Academy  was  organized  December  1 4, 
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questions.  The  Academy  does  not  take  sides  upon  controverted  questions,  but 
seeks  to  secure  and  present  reliable  information  to  assist  the  public  in  forming 
an  intelligent  and  accurate  opinion. 

Publications.  The  Academy  publishes  annually  six  volumes  dealing 
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Meetings.  The  Academy  holds  five  scientific  sessions  each  year  during 
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Membership.  Membership  in  the  Academy  may  be  secured  by  apply- 
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